This will be in two parts. Next chapter will *hopefully* be up tomorrow.

For the always amazing bookdiva, who wanted lawyer Deeks. Here you go, my friend!

Disclaimer - I do not own NCIS LA or any known characters here.

Kensi was fuming. She had just gotten done with her morning run and had stopped for coffee when a good looking guy had approached her.

He was all smiles as he walked up and she was fully prepared to start flirting when he had stopped and asked "Ms. Kelsey Benson?" She nodded, recognizing the alias, unsure what this was about but ready to defend herself if needed. He just handed over a manila envelope. "You've been served. Have a nice day." And just like that, Kensi's day had gone to shit.

She stormed into the bullpen and slammed her bag onto the floor, definitely getting the guys attention. They all stopped what they were doing and watched the wrath of Kensi Blye obliterate a Twinkie in pretty much one bite. Feeling the stares, she looked up, noticing the guys for the first time.

"Whah?"

"I'm not too keen on doing the Heimlick Maneuver today, Kens. I know you were taught manners when you were a kid. Don't talk with your mouth full. Also, don't shove whole Twinkies in your mouth either." Deeks was actually kind of impressed with that display, but he didn't want to push his luck.

She answered the only way she knew how at the moment, with her middle finger. This caused Deeks to spit his coffee out and Sam and Callen were having a hard time containing their laughter. She shot a glare at everybody before standing up and stomping off the gym.

"Wow, I feel bad for the punching bag right now. Twenty bucks says it has a hole in by the end of the day." Callen couldn't help it; if he could bet on it, he would, and he knew Sam wouldn't be able to hold himself back.

"You know what G? You're on. I say it's gone by noon today."

Deeks was trying to clean up his desk from the spewed coffee. Noticing his white shirt now had coffee stains on it, he sighed.

"It's gonna be a long day," he muttered to himself, throwing the napkins away and making his way to the locker rooms to change. Before he could open the door, he was violently pushed into the storage room by his pissed off partner.

"Hey Princess. Couldn't wait to get me alone, could you? You know, you don't have to make obscene gestures at me all the time. A few nice words will go a looooong way." He winked at her, knowing she hated it but not being able to do anything else. If there was one thing he was good at, it was annoying her.

"Shut up Deeks. I think… Well, I may need your help with something."

He instantly became serious. Kensi never asked anyone for help. The only time she had asked for his help was when she was after Claremont and needed him to take care of her mom.

"Okay, what do you need Kens?"

She noticed the serious expression and, not for the first time, wondered just how lucky she was to have him. Well, not actually have him. But, you know, have him as a partner.

Come on Kensi, this is NOT the time to be thinking these kinds of thoughts.

"Okay, let's say I have this friend," his eyebrows shot up, "and a while back she got into a fight and someone got their teeth knocked out and maybe some clothing was ruined. Said friend was served papers this morning. What do I tell this friend she needs to do next?"

He couldn't stop the grin that spread over his face, head tilted to the side.

"Really Fern, you are going to tell me your "friend" has legal trouble?"

"God damn it Deeks! I got served with papers this morning okay? I went jogging and stopped for coffee. I saw this really cute guy walking towards me so I put my flirty face on. When he stopped in front of me he asked if I was Kelsey Benson, which is an old alias. I said yes. He served me papers. What the hell do I do now?" She was still pissed. This had ruined her whole day. She was being sued. Really?!

Deeks held his hand out. "Give me twenty bucks. I just need you to trust me and don't ask questions." She glared at him but turned and walked into the women's locker room, coming out minutes later with a twenty dollar bill and put it in his hand.

"Now, everything from here on out is attorney/client privilege."

Her eyes got big. Of course she knew Deeks was a lawyer, but she had NEVER imagined asking him to represent her. She had just wanted to get some legal advice from him.

He just stood there staring at her, waiting for her to catch up.

"Deeks, you don't…"

"Kensi, I'm a lawyer. Believe it or not, I was actually pretty good once. And you're my friend. Of course I'm going to help you." The look in his eyes told her everything she needed to know. That no matter what it was, he had her back.

"Thank you, Deeks." She tried to convey with her eyes what her heart knew but she couldn't say. Yet.

"You're welcome. Now, let me take a look at the papers you were served and as long as it doesn't need immediate attention, I will come over tonight, and we can form a plan then. Sound good?" She just nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak, and followed him back to their desks.

The rest of the day flew by, which was odd considering it was mainly paperwork, which everyone hated.

"So Fern, ready to head home?" She just raised her eyebrow at him but kept her mouth shut at his choice of words.

"Yeah. You're getting dinner. I want a burger. From that one place, with the…" Her eyes lit up and he couldn't help but laugh.

"Easy tiger, I know what you're talking about. And how you like your burger. Good thing you're buying mine tonight, huh?" The questioning look was all he needed. "The twenty bucks? I figured you buy mine, I'll buy yours?" He was smirking at her now - knowing he was pushing her buttons - and she resisted the urge to use her middle finger again.

He's your lawyer now, too. Be nice, Kensi. He can fire you for contempt. Can't he? Or is that just the judge that can do that? Oh God, I don't know what any of this means. I would have been so screwed.

She took some calming breaths before speaking, teeth gritted together.

"Would you like some more money Deeks? To help pay for dinner?" He couldn't help it. The pained look on her face and her actually trying to be nice was too much and he almost doubled over in laughter. Kensi just put her head on the desk.

This was a horrible idea.

Finally able to breathe again, he stood up. "Kens, it's okay. You don't have to be all weird now that I'm your lawyer. I need my Kick Ass Blye back. Have you seen her? She's about yay tall, brown hair, can take me down with her eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back?"

Kensi just started laughing.

It'll be okay, she thought.

"Come on Matlock, let's go. I'm hungry."

A few hours later, they sat on her couch, empty beer bottles and the night's remnants of dinner littering the coffee table.

She had told him the basics: She had gone undercover as Kelsey Benson. She was to get close to a business man with ties to drug smuggling, find out who he was selling to and when the next movement was. What she hadn't counted on was the jealous ex-girlfriend, Celeste Wright. The night the bust had gone down, Celeste had been waiting for Kensi and attacked her as she was coming out a club, maintaining her alias as Kelsey. What Celeste had not been counting on was 'Kelsey' knowing how to kick ass. Pretty quickly, a jaw was broken, some teeth had been knocked out, a shirt torn and Celeste was on the ground.

Deeks had made notes and asked further questions – was there any way Celeste could have figured out she was a federal agent? Any witnesses? Bodily harm she may have sustained? Kensi had answered, telling him that she was pretty sure her real identity was intact; Sam and Callen had come out quickly, arresting both girls and putting them in the back of the vehicles. They just happened to put Kensi in the back of the SRX. No witnesses that she was aware of. And a few bruised ribs were all that came of it for her.

After the story was told and questions asked, Deeks put his head down, studying the papers she had been given. He would nod his head every once in a while, making a grunting noise. She just sat there watching him, fascinated.

I bet he was popular with the female clients.

That one thought had caught her off guard and she simultaneously started choking on her beer and felt the familiar burn of jealousy. Not wanting to dwell on why she was jealous right now, she worked on trying to breathe.

"You know, if you slow down once in a while, actually enjoy it, you won't choke so much." He didn't even glance up, continuing to move his eyes over the paper. So, deciding to go the mature route, she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Show me that tongue again sweetheart and you're gonna find out just how good I am with my mouth." He looked up saying this, something that was both familiar and unfamiliar shining in his eyes. Her mouth went dry. Usually when he made these kinds of comments the teasing was there in his voice. This time, however, he sounded dead serious. It was then she recognized the look. It held lust and longing – something she was getting pretty used to feeling when it came to him - but there was also something else. Something she wasn't quite ready to put a name to. She couldn't look away. His eyes were bore into hers. She lost all ability to think and found herself leaning forward, ever so slightly. Her forward movements were mirrored by his, each very slowly closing the gap.

Terrible, terrible idea.

Just before their lips met, the folder he had been holding fell to the floor, breaking the spell. The both jumped apart like they had been burned, unable to make eye contact. While Deeks was busy picking up the papers and putting them back in order, Kensi had jumped up, picking up the trash on the table and taking it to the kitchen.

After depositing the trash in the bin, she put her hands on the counter and leaned forward, head down. What the hell was I thinking?

He's my partner! I can't risk losing that, losing him. Because nothing ever works out for me, and I can't hurt him.

The internal battle Kensi was having in the kitchen was almost identical to the one Deeks was having in the living room. After picking up the papers, he got up and started pacing.

Come on Deeks, she's your best friend. And you know your past. You always mess things up, and she's had too many heartaches in her life. She does not need you to add to that.

Kensi pulled herself together first and walked back into the living room. Deeks was pacing the floor and she couldn't help but feel a little guilty about it. He stopped when he noticed her in the door way.

"Hey, Kens, I'm sorry. That was… unprofessional on every level. Not that I don't want to, it's just not a good idea." Of course he would try and apologize for it. Unprofessional? Not a good idea? Was this Deeks talking right now?

"No, yeah, you're right. It's a terrible idea. I don't know what I was thinking." She had to look away or she was going to jump on him and see if he would make good on his threat from earlier.

I wonder if he's as good with his mouth as he says he is?

He could see the blush rising in her cheeks and was surprised. Did she want that to happen as bad as he did?

"Yeah, terrible idea." He scratched his neck and turned away, needing to gather his wits before he showed her exactly what he could do with his mouth and kissed her until she couldn't remember her name. Okay, he had to go or he wasn't leaving.

Almost running to door, folder in hand, he called over his shoulder to her, "Hey, I'll uh, look over the rest of this tonight and let you know my thoughts on it tomorrow. At work. With people around. Of course with people around, we'll be at work. It'll be fine. It'll work itself out." Why couldn't he shut up? It was literally impossible for him to stop speaking. "Try not to knock anyone else's teeth out tonight, okay partner?" He figured he was far enough away for her that it was safe to look at her now. Opening the door and stepping out, he turned to her. She hadn't moved from her earlier position, with a look of amusement – and disappointment? - adorning her face. Deciding now was not the time to dwell on it – there would be time enough for that later – he raised the folder.

"Don't worry Fern. I've got your back. We'll get you out of this mess before you know it. But really, try and behave while I'm gone. And if you can't, at least call me to help with the misbehaving." She threw a shoe at him, barely missing and hitting the closed door instead. She could hear his laughter as it followed him to the car.

She was so screwed. There was no way she was going to win this case. And she didn't mean the legal one she had hired a lawyer for.

AN - Let me know your thoughts! Next part will be up soon. And for those who are reading Smile Sunshine - don't worry. I am working on the next chapter. Just in a funk with it right now.